Jackie Vanhoomissen

New Faculty Essay Collection: “Awaken the Stars”

February 3, 2017

stars-dt-copy Shannon Mayer, physics, and Jacqueline Van Hoomissen, biology, are pleased to announce the publication of Awaken the Stars, their co-edited volume of essays on what faculty really teach in their classrooms, beyond the standard course content. The collection is comprised of reflective writings from 25 faculty from a broad range of disciplines at the University of Portland and is dedicated to Brian Doyle, the creative, inquisitive, and joyous colleague who, with a single request for an essay for Portland Magazine, inspired Mayer and Van Hoomissen to curate their current collection.

Mayer and Van Hoomissen hope the essay collection will provide readers with a deeper look at what UP faculty members believe education is really about, and that it will serve as a catalyst to inspire conversations about the deeper meanings of education. The essays add to the national dialogue on the value of higher education, but they are unique in that each author takes a more personal look at how thoughtful engagement, personal connection, and intentionality inform and transform what happens between professor and student. The collection is not an “academic” book, but is a simple collection of personal essays that seek to add compelling and compassionate stories to the national conversation on higher education.

Awaken the Stars is available for through ACTA Publishers (www.actapublications.com) and at the University of Portland bookstore.

For more information contact Mayer at mayers@up.edu or Van Hoomissen at vanhoomi@up.edu.

Sam Holloway, business, was interviewed by Brews News for a feature, “Beer Is A Conversation: Sam Holloway,” which can be found at this link.

The University of Portland was featured in “32 Reasons to Love Portland Right Now,” an article in Willamette Week for the week of February 10-16. UP was named the no. 7 reason for “The University of Portland Continues to Turn out Some of the Best Women’s Soccer Players in the World,” as if we didn’t know that already here on The Bluff. See the article using this link.

Brian Adams, business, was interviewed for a segment of Marketplace, titled “The State of the Two-Week Notice Rule,” which aired on February 11, 2020, on WNYC FM radio. He was also quoted in an article, “Fed Chair Flags Corporate Bond Risk,” in Advisor News on February 11, 2020.

Bryan Rookey, sociology & social work, presented his paper, “Drugged Driving and the Opioid Crisis: Status Differences in Opioid Misuse” at the Annual Meeting of the Western Society of Criminology, Phoenix, AZ, February 2020.

John Orr, English, wrote a book review of Teaching Representations of the First World War, ed. Cohen and Higbe, in The Space Between: Literature and Culture 1914-1945 vol. 15, November 2019.

Patrick Murphy, performing and fine arts, recently conducted two honor bands: the Lower Columbia Community College Honor Band (January 11 in Longview) and the North County Honor Band (February 1 in Hockinson). In total, over 150 students from 18 different high schools participated. He was also the guest clinician for the Oregon Music Educators Association District 2 conducting workshop on February 6, where he mentored middle and high school band directors. In addition, the UP Wind Symphony performed to a capacity crowd at the Soreng Theater in the Hult Center in Eugene, as featured performers at the 2020 Oregon Music Education Association Conference on January 17.